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Sarkeht Dynasty
The Sarkeht Dynasty is the ruling Necron Dynasty of the tomb World Neravit, their crown world, the tomb worlds of Henevakh, Tunavur, Coralakh, Nadrassur and Immilekh, and a number of outlying military and research outposts. One of the last Necrontyr dynasties to arise before the biotransference, the Sarkeht are currently ruled by their first and only Phaeron; Menhotehn. The origins of the Sarkeht dynasty date to the final Siege of Mehntir, better known to most Necrons as the Battle of the Black Flame. A Nemesor in service to the Imrek Dynasty, Menhotehn achieved one of the few great victories against the Old One forces prior to biotransference. However, his victory at Mehntir came at the cost of the Imrek Crownworld and the near extinction of their dynasty, a price which alienated Menhotehn from many of his fellow Necrontyr nobles. But a long needed victory engendered Menhotehn as a hero to the common Necrontyr people, and gained him enough support amongst the more pragmatic nobility to found his own dynasty. Menhotehn immediately pledged his dynasty to the service of the Silent King and all Necrontyr kind, a pledge which ensured the survival of the fledging dynasty against Menhotehn’s many rivals. During the remainder of the war in heaven and the rebellion against the C’tan, Menhotehn held true to his pledge and committed his house whole heartedly to fighting for the future of all Necrons, rather than petty politics. His loyalty to the Silent King ensured that by the time of the great sleep the Sarkeht dynasty was still large enough to call itself a dynasty without a hint of pretence. However, it was amongst the smallest of the dynasties able to do so. As the great slumber ends in mankind's 41st millennium, only the far flung and isolated tomb world of Immilekh has awoken. It’s denizens find themselves in the midst of a belligerent alien people, while their liege and the majority of his forces still slumber in their distant realm. Background Imrek Dynasty The Imrek Dynasty was amongst the oldest and most powerful of the Necrontyr royal dynasties, easily rivalling the Sautekh or the Maynarkh for predominance at their peak. The Militaristic nature of the Imrek, as well as their willingness to cooperate closely with other powerful dynasties, especially the neighbouring Sautekh, ensured that the Imrek weathered the early stages of the War in Heaven better than most. Their crownworld, Mehntir, had been besieged by Eldar and Krork on countless occasions and on countless occasions the invaders had been driven off. However being constantly on the defensive did not suite the proud Imrek lords, who had longed for millennia for an opportunity to go on the offensive against their foe. Menhotehn Menhotehn was born on Mehntir during the last decades of the Necrontyr race. His father, Neravit, was a Vymark and Varguard to a greater noble, while his mother, Sarkeha, waited on one of the greater ladies at the Imrek court. Neravit was killed in one of the many sieges of Mehntir shortly before the birth of his son, while Sarkeha finally succumb to the cancers which riddled her body while Menhotehn was still a boy. Even at a young age it was clear that Menhotehn would grow to be physically and intellectually gifted, and as such the Imrek lords were all too happy to keep him at court. However, none were particularly keen to take on the expense of taken an orphan with no connections and little prospect as ward. So it seemed that Menhotehn would live out his life as a Lychguard or a Praetorian of the Triarch, perhaps with enough skill and determination he might aspire to his father’s position of Varguard. However, as Menhotehn entered adolescence, an opportunity presented itself. The fabled Sautekh Nemesor Zahndrekh paid visit to the Imrek court. While there he witnessed Menhotehn engaged in a game of strategy. So impressed was the old general by the young boy’s performance, that Zahndrekh offered to take Menhotehn as a ward to his court at Gidrim, an unrefusable offer that Menhotehn was as quick to take up and the Imrek were to assent. Under Zahndrekh, Menhotehn quickly flourished, going from strength to strength on the battlefield. So great was mutual respect between student and teacher that many of Zahndrekh’s Sautekh courtiers began to resent the young interloper, chief amongst them, Imotekh, the future Phaeron. It was under Zahndrekh’s command at the fourth battle of Vyndakh that Menhotehn meet the brilliant young Cryptek, Hathep. At Court on Gidrim, Menhotehn would meet and fall in love with beautiful and equally brilliant Cryptek, Nefertara, herself a daughter of the Virmar Dynasty, although the two would not be allowed to marry until her brother succeeded their father as Phaeron. These two relationships would prove almost as vital to the founding of the Sarkeht Dynasty as Menhotehn himself. Lord of Neravit After nearly a decade under Zahndrekh, Menhotehn made his return to the Imrek court, already an accomplished commander of some renown. With him Zahndrekh sent a gift, a large seemingly barren former Necrontyr world, stripped of its name for some long forgotten dishonour. While the world was nominally a token of friendship to the Imrek, the intent was clear, the world was meant for the old warlord’s favoured student. All too aware that the ambitious Menhotehn would likely avail himself of a more prosperous world in short order, the nobles of the Imrek dynasty were all too happy to see him sent off to the desolate rock. At the head of his court alongside him was Nefertara, Menhotehn’s new bride, and his old friend Hathep now served as his chief advisor. The remainder of his court was filled out with other non-inheriting children of lesser families who saw a future with Menhotehn. The settlers of his new world were drawn from the veterans of his campaigns under Zahndrekh, from Virmar forces sent as dowry by his new brother in law, the Phaeron Themetsis, and from those civilians begrudgingly released by other Imrek lords. With his ramshackle expedition, Menhotehn set forth to claim his new world, which he named Neravit to honour the father he had never known. As soon as he had secured his new holdings as best he could against old one reprisal or the ambitions of other lords, Menhotehn turned his attention towards civilian infrastructure. It quickly became apparent that the young lord was as adept an administrator as he was a commander. Neravit was already developing quite well when Hathep’s crypteks became aware that the entire planetary system was immensely rich in many of the minerals upon which Necrontyr technology relied. This discovery lead to the rapid development of industry on Neravit, and in turn Menhotehn funnelled this new found wealth and immigration not only into outfitting his armies with the best equipment available, but into turning his realm into a centre of science, art and culture. The Black Flame and the Star Gods A New Weapon Under Menhotehn’s patronage, Hathep’s research flourished. Amongst his breakthroughs were advances in Necrontyr understanding of thermodynamics as well as new theoretical applications for Gauss technology. Using Hathep’s work, Nefertara went on to develop a new prototype weapon, the Enhanced Gauss Thermal Ionizer. In the weapons first field test it proved its worth, the cruiser mounted prototype vaporised an Eldar light cruiser, a notoriously difficult target, with a single hit. The weapons efficacy proven, Menhotehn immediately became to retrofit his army and fleet with versions of the weapon, from small side arms to a massive Battleship mounted variant. These weapons quickly became known in the field as Black Flamers, due to the characteristic black colour the any gasses affected by a shot would briefly take on. The Relief of Nadrassur